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The Serenade (Mario and Grisi in 'Il Trovatore')

Photograph
1857 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Caldesi & Montecchi (photographer)

Opera singers Giulia Grisi and Giovanni Mario enact a scene from Verdi’s Il Trovatore (The Troubadour). Their costumes and contrived poses are at odds with the ordinary Victorian garden setting. The image was used to illustrate sheet music, and was reproduced as a small, collectible, carte-de-visite photograph, but this print was made for display. In 1858 it was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (then the South Kensington Museum), to which it was bequeathed in 1868

Object details

Category
Photographs
Object type
Photograph
TitleThe Serenade (Mario and Grisi in 'Il Trovatore') (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion on glass negative.
Photographic Paper
Photography
Albumen Process
Wet Collodion Process
Brief description
Photograph attributed to Caldesi & Montecchi, 'The Serenade', about 1857, Albumen print from wet collodion on glass negative, 19thC, Townshend bequest.
Physical description
Black and white photograph of a couple in historical dress in front of the entrance to a building. The woman is standing on steps on the left side and the man with a lute leans against the pillar of the staircase on the right side.
Dimensions
  • Height: 42.8cm
  • Width: 35.7cm
Gallery label
Photography Centre 2018-20:


Collection in Focus: Chauncy Hare Townshend (1798–1868)

Chauncy Hare Townshend was one of the few serious collectors of photography in the early years of its development. Apart from Prince Albert, he remains the only identifiable British private collector of early photographs on such a scale. He was an extremely wealthy art collector and connoisseur who moved in the highest social and literary circles – Charles Dickens even dedicated Great Expectations to him. Townshend bequeathed his large art collection, including paintings, furniture, gemstones, books and coins, as well as his photographs, to the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) in 1868. His impressive photography collection ranged from images of political, military and contemporary events to a particularly striking group of French fine art photographs. Practising photographers tended to collect photographs, exchanging works as examples of style and process. But Townshend, who was not a photographer, recognised both photography’s documentary value, and even more so, its exciting new artistic capabilities.

1. Leonida Caldesi (1823–91) and Mattia Montecchi (1816–71)
The Serenade (Mario and Grisi in ‘Il Trovatore’)
1857
Albumen print
Museum no. 68040
Making It Up: Photographic Fictions (2018)

Opera singers Giulia Grisi and Giovanni Mario enact a scene from Verdi’s Il Trovatore (The Troubadour). Their costumes and contrived poses are at odds with the ordinary Victorian garden setting. The image was used to illustrate sheet music, and was reproduced as a small, collectible, carte-de-visite photograph, but this print was made for display. In 1858 it was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (then the South Kensington Museum), to which it was bequeathed in 1868

Marta Weiss
Label for 'Making It Up: Photographic Fictions' (3 May 2013 - 12 January 2014):

Caldesi & Montecchi (active 1850s)
The Serenade (Mario and Grisi in ‘Il Trovatore’)
About 1857

Opera singers Giulia Grisi and Giovanni Mario enact a scene from Verdi’s Il Trovatore (The Troubador). Their costumes and contrived poses are at odds with the ordinary Victorian garden setting. The image was used to illustrate sheet music, and reproduced as a small, collectible, carte-de-visite photograph, but this print was made for display. In 1858 it was exhibited at the V&A (then the South Kensington Museum).

Albumen print
Townshend bequest
Museum no. 68:040
Credit line
Bequeathed by Chauncey Hare Townshend
Subjects depicted
Musical
Lute
Theatre
Stage
Summary
Opera singers Giulia Grisi and Giovanni Mario enact a scene from Verdi’s Il Trovatore (The Troubadour). Their costumes and contrived poses are at odds with the ordinary Victorian garden setting. The image was used to illustrate sheet music, and was reproduced as a small, collectible, carte-de-visite photograph, but this print was made for display. In 1858 it was exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (then the South Kensington Museum), to which it was bequeathed in 1868
Bibliographic reference
Ahlund, Mikael (ed.), The Pre-Raphaelites Stockholm : Nationalmuseum, 2009 no. 56
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
68040

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Record createdJanuary 13, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O182545/the-serenade-mario-and-grisi-photograph-caldesi--montecchi/
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